Clinical trial support company Almac Group of Ireland dedicated its new North American headquarters in Souderton, PA, this spring. Guests included BIA’s own Jim Mazeika, PE, LEED AP, the project’s civil engineering manager and Roy Ackerman, PE, the project’s structural engineer. The $100 million, 240,000 SF headquarters combined under one roof the company’s two existing Pennsylvania locations in Audubon, Montgomery County, and Yardley, Bucks County. The project was designed by Francis Cauffman Architects of Philadelphia. In addition to civil and structural engineering, BIA’s services included surveys, site design, permitting, environmental studies, traffic studies and engineering, and landscape design.

Located along the forks of the Delaware River, the City of Easton, PA is the home of the nonprofit Nurture Nature Center. Founded with the help of the Nurture Nature Foundation, a NY nonprofit established in 1991, the Nurture Nature Center is dedicated to addressing the fundamental conflict between economic development and conservation of the environment.

BIA’s electrical team designed all the electrical aspects including distribution and the architectural lighting design for NNC’s first and centerpiece exhibit -Science on a Sphere® (SOS) - a dynamic, animated six-foot suspended globe that is both a noted tourist attraction and educational tool. The exhibit was installed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and can display up to 250 global views of earth and space including oceans, tsunamis, earthquakes, other planets and social global connections. The images are projected onto the globe from four corners, causing the stationary globe to look like it is rotating. Most recently, the public was invited to visualize how hurricanes work by viewing important data, and to discuss what can be done to prevent the worst losses.

The exhibit’s project area was over 7,500 SF and BIA also provided construction administration services including inspections during construction.

The third story windows of BIA’s Phillipsburg office have spectacular views of the Delaware River and a number of projects throughout the City of Easton. But our service area spreads eastward throughout New Jersey. Here are a few recent project examples:

BIA provided the design of structural and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in the renovation and 7,000 SF addition to the Pohatcong Township Municipal Complex

Warren County Engineering Department

As a consultant to Fitzgerald Architectural Studio Phillipsburg Housing Authority.

Elsewhere in the state, the BIA mechanical, electrical and plumbing department is assisting Fitzgerald Architectural Studio in the design of the executive offices for the US Golf Association

BIA’s civil and construction services departments are working with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), which owns or manages 41 shopping centers in 12 states, with a detention basin project at

In finalizing work on the Phillipsburg campus of Warren County Community College’s new satellite campus and business incubator, the

Construction is underway at the Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, PA. The project was designed by Howard Kulp Architects, PC, of Allentown. Barry Isett & Associates designed the structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, lighting and fire protection systems for the 50,000 SF venue that will be utilized in several capacities. As a conference/expo center, it can accommodate up to 1,500 people. As a concert hall, it will handle seated audiences of up to 2,250. Features include a 15,000 SF VIP Balcony with seven luxury suites, five green rooms for performers and a 12,000 SF bistro with several full service bars that boast dynamic light displays.The Event Center is the second BIA project at the Sands Casino. The first, the 300 room Sands Casino Hotel opened in the spring. BIA provided the design of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems of the entire hotel, as well as MEP, site/civil and structural for a 3,000 SF addition along with landscape design.

BIA’s Landscape Architecture group teamed with Riggs Ward, an award-winning exhibit and graphic design firm, to design byway markers for the Dorchester County Department of Tourism along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway on Maryland's Eastern Shore. About 125 miles long, the byway winds through Dorchester and Caroline Counties, following closely a route used by Ms. Tubman as she brought escaped slaves northward to freedom through a secret network of roads, waterways, trails, and hiding places. The project involves the design of six-foot-tall, four-sided informative signs to be placed at 22 sites along the byway, a marker at the future Harriet Tubman Museum, three 12-foot orientation markers, and several directional signs. BIA’s role is site layout and design for the byway signs. Other team members include historian Cheryl LaRoche and Heritage Strategies, LLC.

Lehigh University’s STEPS (Society, Technology, Environment Policy, and Society) building, designed by the Philadelphia office of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, has been recognized in an international competition, GREEN GOOD DESIGN. The program is a joint initiative of The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. With civil engineering design by Barry Isett & Associates, the STEPS Building was one of 46 buildings world-wide honored in the Green Architecture category. The program seeks to celebrate outstanding individuals, companies, organizations, governments, and institutions that have forwarded exceptional thinking and inspired greater progress toward a healthier and more sustainable universe. In late summer, the United States Green Building Council accorded Gold status under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System.